Small changes, big results: Legislative voting behavior in the presence of new voters

Changes in district boundaries in small magnitude electoral systems can have substantive consequences for representation. In the U.S., each decennial redistricting cycle infuses House districts with a large number of new voters, changing personal representation for many citizens. What effect does the influx of these new voters exert on member behavior? By assessing the extent of this change in constituencies in conjunction with member voting behavior on roll calls, we can determine if significant changes to a congressional district impact post-redistricting legislative behavior. Using panel data estimators and various measures of legislator behavior, we show evidence that supports this claim. Our findings have notable implications for debates over representation and electoral accountability in legislative assemblies.

© This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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Work Title Small changes, big results: Legislative voting behavior in the presence of new voters
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Anthony M. Bertelli
  2. Jamie L. Carson
Keyword
  1. Boundary changes
  2. Redistricting
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Electoral Studies
Publication Date January 22, 2011
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2011.01.002
Deposited November 11, 2023

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Version 1
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  • Created
  • Added SSRN-id1738584-1.pdf
  • Added Creator Anthony M. Bertelli
  • Added Creator Jamie L. Carson
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Boundary changes, Redistricting
    Publication Date
    • 2011-03-01
    • 2011-01-22
  • Updated